Week B20 Transfer 13 Week 6 July 17-23

             One mans junk is another mans treasure

Preaching: This is what we worked on in the SRS class.  Show Integrity:

Put a number in front of each item to show how often you act this way:  

1 = never, 2 = sometimes, 3 = often, 4 = almost always, 5 = always 

______  1.  I keep all my promises, commitments, and covenants.

______  2.  I am completely truthful in things I say and in the records I keep.

______  3.  I do not exaggerate to make things appear better than they are.  

______  4.  I return everything I borrow and do not take things that do not belong to me. 

______  5.  I am completely faithful to my spouse in my words and actions.  

______  6.  I never cheat, even when I know I won’t get caught.

______  7.  When I find something that is not mine, I return it to the owner.  

______  8.  I always pay back money I borrow, including any loans.     

Sunday:  We had a car load to start the morning with then by time for church, several cancelations.  Reymark made the assignments for the sacrament so that was good. Church and our lessons went well even though the twins weren’t at church and Joyce’s assistant teacher didn’t show up.  Brother. Acosta received the Aaronic Priesthood.  He had to leave early with Michelle and SunShine because Richel has come up missing again.   Her boy friend has made some threats to her so they are worried where she is at.  We took the rest of the family home after church so we did end up with a car load going home.  It all works

out. We stopped at Joyce Johnson’s to take her and Eric to Puyallup, but she wasn’t ready so we came home and had a quick lunch.  It was a good thing we got to eat then because we never got home again until 9:30 at night.  It’s too late to eat then.  After picking up Joyce and loading her luggage, lots of it, we drove her to Puyallup to spend the night there with a friend so that she can leave Eric there when she flies to Ghana on Monday.  We only got lost once.  It was too late to go all the way home to South Settle, so we went to the church to hang out until it was time to go to go to the devotional in Maple Valley.   Joyce practiced the piano and Art took a nap on the floor until Jacob and Lara face timed us and we got to have a good visit.   The Elder Sisters were meeting us at the church so we could go to the devotional together, plus give Jasmine a ride.  She’s an investigator that Skyway A is teaching.  The devotional was great and Jasmine enjoyed it.  We got to see Sister Heiner for the last time, she goes home next Monday.

Monday p-day:  We picked up Estrella and Eldrex and drove to the hospital for a 11:00 appointment.  It is a great drive along Lake Washington until you hit the traffic by the U. of W.  Eldrex did great and they are setting him up for more therapy in October.  These will be three hour sessions, five days a week for three weeks. We took them to lunch on our way

home.  We did some shopping and errands, plus the usual Monday things before time for FHE.  All those who wanted rides cancelled on us so it was just the two of us on the way there which was kind of different for us. We did give Debra Driggs a ride home.  FHE was good with a small turn out.  No origami so that cuts down those who attend. We did get a call to let us know that there will be somebody from Salt Lake attending the SRS class tomorrow, but they said not to worry.  Sure, no worries, but they know that Elder Knowles does a great job facilitating the Financial Management Class.  We did figure out that the criminal activity we were told about was a person that was shot and killed in the park next to the street where some of you parked when you came to see us.  Welcome to Skyway.  Another reason  why we don’t walk in the park after dark.

Tuesday:  Our district meeting was first thing in the morning.   It was the last one before transfers next week and usually things change, so we took lots of pictures after.  It was a good meeting. Afterward we went to the Acostas and Joyce taught English, worked on insurance forms and Art entertained Eldrex and Princes Joy.  We had just enough time to walk home, have a quick lunch and ride the bus to Renton for the SRS class. Only four more and we will be experts with money we hope.  We had to be the facilitators again.  It went well and the person from Salt Lake didn’t stay too long.  After class we caught the bus to Henderson and then walked home from there.  It is still not dark by the time we get home but close.  Most of our Tuesdays are the same routine with District meeting and the SRS class.

Wednesday:  We took the Elder Sister to Northwest Harvest with us. We did pasta again and it was very hot in the building.  The weather is getting hotter now. Karen was going to go, then backed out so she could get ready for her graduation tonight.   We ate lunch with the Sisters and then hurried home so we could walk with Karen along the lake.  Hope Place is giving her a bad time about her graduation and other things.  We are convinced it is because she is active in the church.  It seems like they want her to fail since she didn’t embrace their religion, then they can say it was because she is Mormon that she failed.  That is the only reason we can think of for the way they are treating her.  One of their directors is very anti.  We picked up Diane Nardi and then Art dropped Joyce and Diane off at Hope Place and he went to the meeting with the Bishop and the missionaries.  That meeting went long, with Art not getting home until almost 11:00.  Bishop Munson let everyone go then kept Art later to visit about talking on the 31st and just visiting.  Then, when we did leave, Bro Powers was waiting out on the street, (he has been banned from all church property) flashing a light, waiting for us. We had been warned that he was there, but thought he had got tired of waiting for us and left.  Not so. He is cleaning or moving, not sure which, but he had all this stuff lined up on the sidewalk and wanted the missionaries to have it. He had to go through each pile to show us what it was and explain how we could use it.    Lots of hand warmers for Sister Chamberlain. We will make sure you get them!  The bad part is that he has more that he wants the missionaries to have so we aren’t done with him yet. Somehow we became the go to missionaries. He is a nice man, just a little, no, a lot not quite all there. We think that is a kind way to say it. Anyway it made for a late night and now we have a lot of stuff to get rid off.  Art felt a bit guilty in leaving because Bro Powers had Bishop Munson trapped on the street as he was trying to leave. 

Thursday: First thing in the morning we went to Green house Acostas and Joyce taught her Primary lesson to Ruth, Rubi and Jenefer.  Kind of a big miracle to have Jenefer sit in on the lesson.  The twins had told us she was too busy.  Joyce did a great job and they all enjoyed the lesson.  After the lesson we went to the church, and Joyce and the twins worked on their primary scrap books, then off to the Fun Center to eat. While they work on the scrape books, Art went around the church and put up all the chairs so we can clean faster on Saturday.  The investigator that we wanted to see wasn’t working so we left the Fun Center and went to the food court at the mall to eat. The food court has more choices.  Since we were at the mall, we called to see what size Ric Acosta wears and went and bought a couple of white shirts and some ties for him.  We hope he will start passing the sacrament now.  At home, Art went through the stuff Bro. Powers had given us. We had already given the twins some of it. In the evening we rode the bus back to the Acostas (Green house) to drop off a Family History pamphlet for Jenefer  and then walked to our missionary meeting. 

A man we talked to on the bus pointed at Arts belly and said he (Art) was putting too much butter on his potatoes when he found out we were from Idaho.  The Elders have lots going on so lots of discussion at the meeting.  Skyway B gave us a ride home so we could talk to them about the Daly Dose program.  We received several calls from Bro. Powers while at the meeting.  Art did talk to him after we got home.  We kind of feel sorry for him. He is cleaning out his storage unit, that’s where all the stuff is coming from.  We hope he doesn’t become a problem.  We think Bishop Munson should handle this not us.

Friday:  Our 10:00 service project with the Spanish Sisters cancelled.  We drove there, knocked, nobody answered and then we found we had missed the call telling us not to come over.  Those things happen.  We came home and walked down to the Acostas with the shirts and ties.  Ric tried on one of the shirts and it fit fine.  Since it was kind of a cloudy day, and since we work through most of our preparation days, we decided to ride the train/bus to the Ballard Locks in the afternoon.  The salmon are coming up the fish ladder.  It was very busy with people.  You can tell it’s summer vacation time.  The locks were very busy also. Lots of boat traffic going both directions, so we were able to see a lot of the locks, filling up with boats, and also the water emptying, so boats could get out into the Sound.  We ate at the best sandwich place we have found so far in Seattle. We got the idea to walk

to Discovery Park and catch a bus into Seattle from there.  It was a much longer than we thought it would be.  The park is huge and goes on for miles!   You have to walk all the way across it to catch a bus.  We missed the bus by a few minutes and the next bus didn’t come for an hour so we back tracked a different way to the locks.  We only went down three dead ends trying to find the right trail.  We finally made it back to the locks, caught a bus to the light rail and made it home by 9:30.  It was a long day and lots of walking, but we had a great time.  We called it our Friday night date.  We did get another call from Bro. Powers. It’s a good thing we were away so we had a good excuse to put him off until we can talk to the Bishop.

Saturday: We were a bit slow getting up after our walk yesterday but we had to clean the church so no choice about sleeping in.  There wasn’t a big turnout for cleaning the church.  The Meldrums had gone up early so they could get to the Renton parade by 9:30.  We did have some extra vacuum cleaners and Joyce took ours,  so that went faster and we were able to be done by

10:00.  We went and picked up Karen and then headed to Sister Jones to help clean and move Karen.  The Spanish speaking Sisters also helped us.  We took them to lunch at a place by our apartment.  The plan was to park in our parking garage, then walk to the restaurant.  The police had the driveway blocked so we had to wait while they arrested somebody. It was a dinner and a show for the sisters.  They know all about Skyway and aren’t allowed to contact in our area or be in our area after 6:00.  After dinner we went back to Sister Jones for more work.  We got Karen’s room cleaned finally and Art fixed the

shower but we were all too tired to finish moving, so we will take a few things over tomorrow.  There is still lots of work to do.  The Elder Sisters even helped in the afternoon and we still couldn’t get everything done.  There’s still lots of stuff to go through.  Bro. Powers ran into Skyway A at McDonalds and gave them all the stuff he has so it was one less thing we had to deal with today. We will get all the stuff later unless somebody breaks into the Elder’s car and steals it. We can only hope.  It was another busy week with lots being accomplished but still more to do.  Elder Call, an area seventy, is going to be at church tomorrow and he will teach SS and Priesthood/RS so we aren’t sure about lesson prep so we got our lesson’s ready just in case we end up teaching.  We are sure Joyce will have Primary.  Hope your week was a good one. Love Joyce and Art

Week B21 Transfer 13 Week 5 July 10-16

The person who doesn’t know where his next dollar is coming from usually doesn’t know where his last dollar went.

Preaching:  This weeks lesson was on “Become One, Work Together”  D&C 104:15-17  watch the video “In the Lords Way”  Ask yourself the question, what talents, gifts, contacts and resources do I have that could help someone else.  The lesson in the money management class was on eliminate unnecessary debt.  We will let you define what unnecessary means.

Sunday:  So much for a day of rest.  We had a car full with the Acostas and Karen. Ric came to church and we brought Eldrex and his wheel chair. There were two recent converts and one returning member passing the sacrament which was nice to see.   There was a good crowd at church, four investigators, three young men, Ivar, Reymark and Eleazar, and lots of less active.  We even had a non-member as one of the speakers.  Bro. Moskowits, (Sister Harrison and Chamberlain you would have loved it).  His wife, Ann, was the other speaker.  She is getting more active in the gospel and they just put her in our new Relief

Sunday dinner

Society Presidency.  Bro. Moskowits is a Jew and he is the bugler for our fourth of July celebrations each year at the yearly flag raising and breakfast.  They spoke on patriotism and getting along with kindness.  It was a little miracle for both of them and all of us.  After church we had the Acosta’s over for lunch, it was mini pizzas on an English muffin.  Eleazar came over which is another miracle because he has always been too shy to come to our apartment.  The adults didn’t come this time.  They all stayed home and took naps (which is what we should have done) and Michelle had to go to work. After eating we went up on the roof and then the park to play.  We had Eleazar, Reymark, Princes Joy, Eldrex with his wheel chair, Ruth, and Rubi.  They all had a great time.  Eldrex really enjoyed being outside.  After the park, we walked all the kids down to Holly House Acosta’s.  Estrella thanked us for letting her have a nap.  She really needs one once in a while with all her children.  She was eating and swallowed her tooth, and showed smiled and showed us her missing spot in her mouth!  (No one signed up to feed Skyway B, so the Elders came over at 5:00 to have pizza.  Karen also came over.  Some of it was left over from lunch.  Some was a fresh batch that just needed to be cooked.  They gave us a good message and showed us President’s Monson’s video on missionary work. (“Faith in the work of salvation” watch it). The clip from when he was a mission president in Canada was awesome!  After dinner, Joyce and Karen wanted to go to Seward Park and walk. The arm on the parking garage was broken again so the missionaries couldn’t get out after they ate, along with a bunch of other people that couldn’t get out.  We used our fob to get everyone out and then got Joyce and Karen on their way to the park.  Art stayed home and talked to Josh when he called.  Busy Sunday!

Cleaning the church/ the Jacksons

Monday:  We got up and did our usual routine of laundry.  Joyce had a dentist appointment south of Tacoma at a dental school so that’s where most of our day was spent .  We did manage a stop at Beehive Books and More on the way to the dentist.  We found out that they now close on Mondays, but the owner happened to be there so she let Joyce in and she was able to get what she needed.  The dentist evaluation took awhile then we went out to lunch.  The school is in Lakewood, just outside of the mission.  Lunch took forever so we had to hurry home and get ready for FHE.  Art had to teach the lesson.  We picked up Diane, Karen and Debra and made it there only a few minutes late.  Debra even brought money so we can now pay Eleazar and Reymark for all their hard work at her place.  There was a good turnout with one new family coming that Skyway A is working with. The wife is

feeding Skyway B

an inactive member and the husband is a non member.  They were very nice.  It was not much of a p-day as far as doing something fun.  Diane Nardi  got her feelings hurt by Sister Beck and drama, so it was a fun filled family home evening!

Tuesday:  We had district meeting first thing in the morning.  We had a good discussion on the doctrine of Christ and we figured out that if we discuss a lot, there is much time left for role playing.  We did do a few role plays, but we got to be the investigators most of the time.  After our meeting we made a quick trip to the Bishops Storehouse for an order and a quick stop at Sam’s Club to say hello to Michele.  We also fill up with gas and had lunch there.  We walked down to Holly house and Joyce taught an English lesson after making a phone call for Estrella.  They had received a letter in the mail for Eldrex and had some questions about the letter.  Looks like our next project may be getting dual citizenship for them, so Eldrex can get some benefits.  We had a 4:50 appointment with Pres. Rasmusson at the stake center and it was with the going home traffic.  The usual 30 min. trip took almost an hour.  We made it on time, then found out that they were running behind.  We didn’t get to see the Pres. until 5:30.  That made us late for the SRS class.  We get to facilitate again next week.  We met our new neighbors that moved in next door, at least on of them.  They are a not married young couple.  The parking arm is broken again, thats why we were able to meet them.  

Wednesday:  Joyce Johnson wanted us to take her to get her hair done first thing in the morning.  We had to work it around Northwest Harvest. She gets her hair done not far from Northwest Harvest.  Because we went early we couldn’t pick up the Elder Sisters. We did pasta with the Sister missionaries.  Joyce Johnson’s hair appointment went longer than she thought (we figured this would happen) so we went to lunch and then Joyce did some shopping.  After picking up Joyce J and taking her home we went to our place and got ready for achievement days.  We took Eldrex, Princes Joy, Reymark, Eleazar, (YM was cancelled, because of a mix up in scheduling) and the twins to Coulon Park were we met up with the Sablans, the Jacksons and Amber. Dylan is YM Pres, Beveryln is assistant achievement

day leader and Amber is the achievement day leader. Sister Jackson is the Primary President. It was so nice to have good support form the ward.  Dylan went and threw the frisbee with the boys and the rest went wading and played at the play ground.  It was nice having Amber and Beverlyn there so Joyce could help Eldrex play in the water, and then play at the playground.  He had a great time.  We stayed later than we should have so by the time we took everyone home, we were too late and  we had to skip the missionary meeting with the Bishop.  We got a phone call from Bro David since we weren’t at the meeting about talking in church in a few weeks.  We guess that is our punishment for not attending the meeting.

Thursday:  We went to the church at 10:00 to work with Sister Larson and brush up on family history so we would be ready when Rev. Bruce and his sister came at 11:00. We love the black community here.  It is nice having all colors coming together. They came a little early and we were ready for them.  Sister Larson did a great job.  Mostly I visited with the Reverend and Sister Larson worked with his sister, Helen.  She is their family historian.  We were able to get back four generations and five on one line so they were pretty happy.  We did find out that he wants to go by Bishop and not Reverend.  His card says Reverend but he wants us to call him Bishop.  He attended church in Salt Lake City, the full three hour block and met the bishop of that ward.  He has contacted Bishop Munson.  He prefers the title of Bishop now.  He directs the Jesus Center and has helped Seattle with Black Youth Programs for years.  He wanted to see the gym and shelter outside because he wants to build something like that at his church for youth activities.  The Elder Sisters came later, but Sister Larson had it under control so Sister Beck left and Sister Stevenson worked on her own history.  Bishop Bruce and his sister were so nice to work with.  We hope to take them to the Discovery Center and the Northwest AfricanAmerican Museum soon.  We picked up Joyce Johnson and took her to Penny’s to get picture of Eric.  She wanted pictures to take to

Africa.  The photo place was closed for an hour so we went to lunch.  We got back to the photo place and Joyce Johnson thought she could get the pix the same day because they would be digital, but it takes a week, so change of plans.  We ended up down in the play room and took pix with our phones to get developed at Sam’s Club.  Joyce flies out on Monday so we are praying that it will all work out.  She wanted the pix to leave with her mother in Africa and to have in case she has to prove Gideon and Eric are hers.  We rode the bus to the missionary meeting and the Elder Sisters brought us home.  We need to start remembering that it is starting to get dark earlier now.

Shopping with Joyce Johnson

Friday:  In the morning we did some catching up with a few things and putting out a few ward fires.  We couldn’t pick up the pictures at Sam’s until 11:00. We were late getting to Sam’s which put us late going to the Acostas to teach English.  We walked to the Acostas to find that Estrella had gone to the doctor with Geraldine so no problem being late.  In the Afternoon we picked up Diane Nardi and went to the church to make sure she had some family history in the system before we drove to the Discovery Center.  Karen met us there and it went very well.  We hoped Diane had a good time. She did spend some time searching for some family members and seemed excited about it.   Sister Larsen was also there so we got special treatment.  Afterwards, we took everyone to supper in Issaquah before driving home.  Issaquah is fifteen minutes away from Bellevue where the Discovery Center is at.  Karen and Diane wanted us to see Issaquah.  Art finished one batch for the big indexing push before going to bed.

Saturday: We cleaned the church in the morning.  There is a wedding going on there today so a lot of the rooms were already being used.  We thought we could get out of there early but it didn’t happen.  Vacuuming with the vacuums at the church takes forever!  We had planned to drive to Paradise in Mt. Rainier Park and that’s why we wanted to get done fast.  Karen went with us.  We stopped at a few places on the way and hiked a little.   When we got to Paradise it was so crowded that we couldn’t park.  It was also cloudy so you couldn’t

Lake Louise

see Mt. Rainier anyway.  We stopped at Nardia Falls, ate lunch and hiked a big hike. We hiked down to a camp ground and got to hike out with an army man and his wife, so Joyce got to have a good visit with them.  We did make the whole loop around the park and it was a beautiful drive. We did see one deer, but no Bigfoot sightings and no ice cream shops.  Lots of wild flowers are in bloom. We came home and went to work on preparing a couple of lessons for church tomorrow.  It’s another busy week done. Seemed like we did a lot of driving, but thats always a good time to visit and get to know the person better who we are giving a ride to. We did try to keep Saturday open so we could do something fun with Karen, since we worked last Monday and will work again this coming Monday.  Hope all is well with everyone.  Love Joyce and Art

Week B22 Transfer 13 Week 4  July 3-9

"The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem." -- Jack Sparrow 

Preaching: The lesson this week was Solve Problems.  There was a short video called “Solve Problems and Make Decision”  We invite you to watch it.  1.Identify  2.Study options 3.Decide and Act… If not good results then steps 1-3 again…Don’t give up “We are thinking, reasoning human beings.  We have the ability to identify our needs, to plan, to set goals and to solve our problems…. Too often people hold on to ideas, inventions and approaches to life that do not work.  The creative approach is a disciplined approach to meet life’s needs”  Robert D. Hales Also read Ether 2:18-19, 23; 3:1,4

On the roof  

Sunday:  We had a busy day for a Sunday.  Karen and Joyce J. and Eric needed a ride to church. Joyce did primary and Art taught in Gospel Principles. Joyce is still working on the music plus teaching a lesson.  It was a good testimony meeting.  The meetings have gotten a lot better the last few months. The young missionaries are working very hard and it is paying off.  Several less actives are coming back to church, and a few investigators but we are still missing lots of recent converts. Several that met with the Bishop last week got what they needed so we didn’t see them today.  JoAnna was there for the first time in a month.  She has moved south of Bellevue so we gave her a ride home so she wouldn’t have to take the bus. The twins and Princess Joy also needed a ride home so had to run the twins home first then come back and get everyone else.  JoAnna was the last to go home since she lives the farthest. We drove across Lake Washington on I-90, (a very pretty drive) to the addition where JoAnna now lives.  As we were leaving we had two deer run across the road in front of us, then stop and eat.  It was kind of cool.  We were waiting for the kids to call when we got a message from the twins that they were at the Holly house so we walked there and then had them come back to our place with Reymark and Princess Joy.  They played in the park, went up on the roof and then made cookies with Joyce.  The twins call us their grandma and grandpa.  We had fun but it was much quieter after they left. We were able to talk to Jake, Lara, Mariah, Josh, Rachel, Maddox, Elayna, Haley, Lexxi, and Braeden.  If we were on an eighteen month mission we would have been packing tonight so it was good to have the kids call and the Acostas here so we wouldn’t be thinking about it.  We have too many things going on the next few months so we are glad we are not going home yet and we still need to get to a Mariners game this year. 

4th breakfast

Monday 4th of July: The Skyway and Tiffany Park Wards had a combined 4th breakfast under the new shelter that has finally been finished.  (They have been working on it since we got here.)   Bro. Marler came in his Air Force uniform.  He is 98 years old.  Bro Moskowits was in a Civil War uniform and he played the bugle for the flag ceremony.  He’s not a member.  There was a good turnout from both wards even though the weather wasn’t good, cold and rainy.  We picked up Karen and the twins, but we had to leave early for a meeting at the Stake Center.  It started at 10:30 and we got there at 10:29 and they were waiting for us. We had several text messages from the Elders wondering where we were at. Not the best way to meet the new Mission President and his wife.  We were just happy that the twins came to the breakfast even though taking them home put us behind.  The meeting was a get to know the new President and his wife.  They are very nice and we look forward to getting to know them better.  After the meeting they wanted a picture with everybody, and we love taking pictures. They did tell us not to expect any big changes for their first few months. The afternoon plan was to have a picnic in the park with Karen, but she went to

Renton Zone July 2016

Sister Jones place instead and made her lunch.  The weather was not picnic weather.  We went over to help clean at Darlene’s.  Joyce cleaned one of the bathrooms and Art went out on the deck and took a nap in the lawn chair.   Sister Jones tried to teach Art a magic trick, but he needs lots more practice.  Skyway B came over in the evening and taught us a practice lesson.  Elder Cardin is new and wanted some practice.  Elder Sumsion did most pf the teaching, though.  When it got dark, we went up on the roof and watched the fireworks.  We have a good view of Rainier Valley and there were lots of fireworks going off.  Some were very close to us.  Karen was going to come over but the noise was bothering her.  She is a little jumpy right now with what is going on in her life.  (She will graduate in 15 days so it will be a big change for her.)  Last year at this time we were melting, this year we were freezing.  Reminds us of Idaho.  

Tuesday p-day:  We had a rather lazy morning. Mostly paying bills and working on the SRS class.  (We needed to research some budget programs.)  Karen wanted us to do something with her so we rode the train into Seattle and ate lunch. She is having a meeting in the evening about her progress and she is worried about it.  After eating, we walked around some and found a park with all these games so we played ping pong and a bean bag game, plus we visited  See’s Candies. Several members stopped and talked to us.  It’s always nice to see a friendly face.  After getting home we rode the bus into Renton and walked around the Farmers Market and bought some fruit before the SRS class.  The young sister missionaries were there so it was nice to see them.   While in Seattle we received an e-mail asking if we could facilitate the class again until Bro. Connell  showed up.  He never did.  Sister Kakuda wasn’t happy about the way the discussion was going and she let Art know it.  We walked home after riding the bus to Henderson. Tuesday p-days just aren’t the most relaxing with the SRS class in the evening, plus Karen’s meeting didn’t go well, so her and Joyce visited for a bit.

Wednesday:  Zone training took up most of the morning, with very little role playing.  It was kind of nice.  After the meeting we had to hurry home, catch the train and walk to Diane Nardi’s. We did stop at home long enough to get the note on our door telling us about the criminal activity involving firearms on Saturday night in Othello Park. We don’t know what they mean by criminal activity.  We heard the shots, but thought it was just some early 4th fireworks. We mostly avoid the park anyway after dark.  We met Diane for lunch then went back to her place and had a lesson on the Plan of Salvation.  She told us all about her trip and the lesson went well.  She seemed to be doing good and was more receptive to the gospel than she has been in the past .  She may even come to church on Sunday, she didn’t say yes, but she didn’t say no.  We picked up the Holly house Acostas and met the Green house Aostas at the church.  Their mother dropped them off, so Joyce was able to visit with her a bit.  We are trying to get the girls on a list that give old bikes to kids.  We had Joshua, Reymark and Eleazar there and the new young mens president was there.  Then Skyway A missionaries came and took him away.  We let them know that was not cool and they needed to leave him alone on Wednesdays so he could do his calling.  His wife was with him so she was able to meet Ruth, Rubi and Princess Joy and make plans for next weeks achievement day.  Joyce had a good visit with Joshua and he said he would come on Wednesday nights, but he doesn’t like basketball.  We will pass the info on to the YM pres.  After taking the Holly house kids all home we came back to the church for the meeting with the Bishop.  Another long meeting but it seemed to be productive for a change. 

Thursday:   At 10:00 we met the Spanish speaking sister at Sister Jones to do some service.  We are still not sure what is going on with her moving and how much we need to pack.  We get different messages from her and her family.  She says Karen is moving in and her family says no one is moving in.  We worked on boxing up things and the Spanish Sister smashed medication. We have hardly made a dent with what needs to be done.  Her kids just want to move her out then have somebody come in and haul everything to the dump, but she wants to have a garage sell or give it away.  She does have a lot of things that are still useful like tools, fishing gear, books and cloths.  We left at 12:30 with just enough time to pick up Eldrex, Princess Joy and Estrella and drive to Children’s Hospital for two appointments. Eldrex got new braces for his legs then they worked with him on walking with a walker.  They are going to put a brace on his right arm to force him to use his left arm, next appointment.  He does really good in his wheelchair, but he won’t use his left arm.  Before going home we took them to lunch.  In the evening we met with Skyway B to go over the ward roster and report on the visits they have made, now we have more paper work to do.  Somehow we became the ones to keep all the records up to date.  It will be good to only have one record to work from that is current.  This took the place of our missionary meeting since Bro. Lopez was busy.  

Friday:  We worked on the ward roster in the morning.  We need to get it up to date then make four copies for all the missionaries. It took way more time than we thought it would.  Art also worked  on setting up an account for Reverend Bruce for our Family History meeting next week.  That also was harder than it should have been.  The twins called because they were bored and wanted to go with us, so we took them to the church while we made the copies and then shopping for groceries.  We have invited all the Acostas for dinner on Sunday if they will come over.  The twins were a big help at Winco.  We might take them every time we shop for groceries.  After a stop at the cleaners we took them to supper then home.  Running errands always takes longer than planned.  By now it was late so we came home and worked more on the ward roster.

Saturday:  We went to the church first to help clean.  The turnout wasn’t as good as last week so we were there a lot longer.  We found out that Karen is feeding Skyway A tonight and needed us there, so it will be at our place.  Skyway B didn’t have a dinner appointment so we invited them.  Good thing Sister Knowles put in some crockpot chicken, in the slow cooker this morning with vegetables, because Karen ended up needing us to feed the elders. We also invited the Elder Sisters to the party!  We walked an invitation to the Acostas for dinner tomorrow and then drove to Joyce Johnson's to read.  She is doing so good with reading the Book of Mormon.  She needed a curtain hung so we did that before reading.  We came home and got ready for the missionary dinner.  It went well and

was good.  Karen wanted to go walking but we needed to go to Sam’s and get a few things for tomorrow, which they were out of. We needed to drop off the invitation to Green house  Acostas for tomorrow so we had to go that direction anyway.  Since Sam’s didn’t have what we needed we will have to make due with what we could find.  (We are trying to make homemade  pizzas.)  We were too tired to walk so maybe tomorrow after church and dinner. We did get in a little walk. We walked across the street from our place to Safeways to pick up what we forgot at Sam’s. That wraps up this week.  We keep thinking it will slow down some, but next week is already filling up.  We loved the pictures from home, e-mails and the phone calls.  Keep it up.   Love Joyce and Art

Week B23 Transfer 13 Week 3 June 26-July 2

                   Good-by to the Eatons…. hello to the Ramussons

Preaching:  Our SRS class was about taking responsibilities for our actions, acting vs being acted upon.  (II Nephi 2: 16, 26  D&C 42:42) “God has designed this mortal existence to require nearly constant exertion…. By work we sustain and enrich life”   D. Todd Christofferson  We watched a video call “Sedrick’s Journey” about a young man working for four years selling bananas so he could earn money for a passport to go on a mission.  He would make two, three hour trips a day to get the bananas to sell.  Everyone should watch it with kids and grandkids. Working was part of the teaching on taking responsibilities. Search “Sedrick's Journey” on google,  watch it, then report back to us so we can report to our class.  They will extend our mission if we don’t have anything to report.  

 Sunday: We thought we had a car full to take to church, then people started to cancel.  We

still had five of us so almost full.   We did have several less actives come to church. It’s also the first of the month on Friday and the line at the bishops office was pretty long.  That could account for some of the less actives being at church.  We are getting worried about several recent converts that haven’t been to church the last month.  The meetings were all good. The ward choir sang for the first time since we have been here.  It’s nice to see that get going.  We took Karen home and then came back to the church so we could take Joyce Johnson home.  At 5:00 we started picking up the Acostas for the devotional and choir practice.  Reymark, Eleazar, Princes Joy and the twins Ruth and Rubi, all sang with the missionaries. We had to enlist Elder Bohnes help but it worked to get the boys to sing and Joyce sang with the girls. This was a big miracle.  A year ago they would never have done this.  We couldn’t talk Michele into it.  It was for the Eaton’s last devotional.  They had invited all the converts from the past three years to sing in the choir.   The converts from the past three years have been from forty different countries.  

Monday p-day:  Karen called first thing and needed our help.  Things are still up and down with her.  We picked up the Elder Sisters and went to Dash Point State Park and had a picnic.  The place was crowded.  The tide was out so there was a lot of beach area all filled with people. After eating we walked along the beach for a bit.  Sister Neuss taught origami before FHE. There was a good turnout for FHE and Joyce and Sister Beck taught the lesson on Joseph Smith since today, June 27, was the 170th anniversary of the martyrdom of the prophet and Hyrum Smith.  

Tuesday:  We had district meeting first thing in the morning. There was not too much role playing and some good discussion.  The Spanish Sisters brought Art some cupcakes for his birthday.  After the meeting we drove to Kent to pick up two food orders at the Bishops Store House.  One was very large, it filled the back of the pick-up and the other one filled the back seat.  The large order went to Creston Point where luckily they were home to help unload.  We still helped carry bags of food up 4 flights of stairs.  Some people won’t help if they can get you to do all the work. There has been a problem with this family not wanting to help carry the food into their apartment, so you have to be a little stubborn with them, and teach them to be grateful.  This was an order for someone the sisters work with and the second was for someone we work with. The second order was much easier to deliver since it wasn’t as big and we are more aware of the situation.  We just had enough time to run home, get a quick bite then catch the train/bus to Renton for the SRS class.  We had to facilitate again. 

The class we attend is doing great, but the class that meets after us is getting smaller.  We are even gaining new people and nobody has dropped out so far.  We always have such good discussions, especially with Elder Knowles facilitating!  We rode the bus back to Henderson and then walked home from there since it was such a nice evening. We got off the bus earlier than normal because some crazy man was stopping the bus, the bus driver had to get on the phone, and we got tired of waiting.

Wednesday:  Northwest Harvest was closed which worked out well for us. We took Sister Jones to the doctor in Seattle.  The Sisters wanted to go so they could see the route we take in case they need to take Sister Jones ever to that doctor’s office.  While waiting for Sister Jones, she told us to go back to Volunteer Park and we went through the Conservatory there which has lots of plants and flowers.  Sister Stevenson and Knowles climbed the water tower.  After taking Sister Jones home we hurried back to our place for a bite of lunch then walked to the Acostas.  Eldrex had an appointment at Holly Park.  (We can walk there from our place).  On the way home from the Acostas, Joyce stopped at the KingWay salon and got her hair cut.  They are all our Buddhist friends and always ask about Louise, since mom got a perm there when they came to visit.  The perm didn’t last too long, but friendships are fun to make with different cultures.  In the evening we picked up the Acostas: Estrella, Michelle, Eldrex, and Princess Joy for achievement days. Reymark and Eleazar wouldn’t come because we couldn’t find out what the young men were doing for their activity.  The Elder Sisters picked up the girls in their area, (Raven and the twins).  We all met Amber and her daughter plus a few of her nieces and nephews at Kuboda Gardens and walked around. Joshua Acosta did show up so that was a plus.  It was a beautiful evening and the kids all ran off a lot of

calories!  So did Estrella and Sister Knowles as they pushed Eldrex in his wheelchair up and down the garden paths.  We were so happy Estrella wanted to come!  

Thursday:  Reymark and Eleazar were looking for a job and a sister in the ward wanted some weeding done so we got them together.  We also helped.  We rode our bikes and picked up the boys then rode to Sister Driggs and went to work. We worked for almost three hours. Now we will see how much she pays them.  She always has more she wants done than originally planned.  We were going to teach Ric Acosta at 2:15 with Skyway B, but the boys said their dad wasn’t home so we told the Elders we wouldn’t be there.  Ric was not home so it worked out and we worked longer with Eleazar and Reymark.  Ric’s sister, Rose, has had a death in their family in the Philippines so we think he may have been at the Green house.  Anyway, we stayed and worked until time for our next appointment with Skyway B at

3:00.  We came home quickly to change, then, rode our bikes there, up hill, and it was a no show.  Then, went home for a quick bite, (down hill this time) then on the bus to go to our missionary meeting.  We went early so we could make a few stops along the way.  First we went to the Green house Acostas to drop off a NT reader for the twins.  The next stop was at the Jesus Center/Freedom Church of Seattle to meet with Reverend Zachary K. Bruce Sr. His church is a few blocks from the Skyway building. He just came back from a visit to SLC and wants some help with Family History.  The stake presidency has been working with him to build a relationship between our church and his.   He was very nice and we will meet with him and his sister in two weeks.  He gave us what info he has so we can get started on his family history and then we will show him how to do the research.  He had a wonderful woman help him in Salt Lake at the Family History Library, and he even attended a three hour block of our church while in Salt Lake.  Pray for us, we are going to need it. At least we have some time to brush up on family history and with your prayers we can do this. We walked to our missionary meeting and after, Sister Kemp gave us a ride home.  She saw us walking to the bus stop and offered us a ride.  She is one of the few active members that live close to us.  It was getting dark so the ride home was welcomed.  Riding the bus after dark is not the safest thing to do since we have to make a transfer on Henderson St. We also found out at our meeting that as of 10:00am today the Eatons went home to Rexburg, and the Ramussens have taken over.  The Zone leaders will meet with them tomorrow and we will meet with them on the 4th of July with all the Renton Zone.

Friday: In the morning we worked around the apartment preparing lessons and learning family history. We even studied together.  We were going to take Estrella and Eldrex to Children’s Hospital at noon until we found out that it had been cancelled until next month.  It’s a good thing that we checked. Since we had some time we went to the church and Joyce worked on the music for primary this Sunday.  She is going to have them learn a song with the chimes and maybe they can do it for the primary program.  Art went and checked out the Family History Library.  We have lots of questions before the meeting in two weeks.  In the afternoon we helped Jennifer Amezcua and her daughter , Jenny, move.  Skyway B helped until they had to leave then the Spanish Elders helped.  She took us to supper for helping.  We filled up with gas and made a trip to Walmart on the way home.  It has been a little bit slower day.  

Saturday: The Skyway ward is cleaning the church for the next six months so that’s where we started our day.  There was a good turnout from the ward, so Joyce worked on her music for primary and Art had Bro. Fish show him some things on family history.  We did clean some.  After cleaning we picked up Joshua Acosta and went to the mall and bought him a suit, white shirts and ties.  Maybe now he will come back to church.  The twins were gone

but came out to say hello when we dropped Joshua off.  We took Joshua to lunch and had a very nice visit with him.  We dropped him off and went to Sam’s for Arts pills and to pick up the photographs for achievement days.  Naturally, once in Sam’s you have to shop and hit the food samples.  So, the stop for pills and pictures ended up costing a lot.  Karen called and wanted to go do something after she got off of work at the place she lives.  We had been trying to check on her the past few days and hadn’t heard from her so it was a relief for her to call.  It was a nice evening so we rode the train into Seattle, ate then walked along the shoreline of Puget Sound, called Alaskan Way.  It was a gorgeous evening and we needed to walk off the big meal.  As you can see we had a busy week and have lots to be thankful for.  The Eatons are on the top of the list along with the Acostas, Joyce Johnson, Karen, each other, our family, friends, elder and sister missionaries, the gospel, all kinds of freedoms, and many many blessings. We are looking forward to meeting the new mission president and his wife next week.   Love Joyce and Art